Fear, misinformation and craziness have descended upon the real estate industry. At the recent Hobbs/Herder personal marketing seminars I have conducted, as soon as I start teaching agents how to execute a marketing plan designed to turn past clients into a never-ending source of referrals and repeat business, I have been overwhelmed by agents telling me why they can't follow through on this idea. They tell me that they have been told that the new Do-Not-Call regulations mean that you can never call your past clients, nor could you call FSBOs, Expireds or people in your farm area without first checking to see if they are on the federal Do-Not-Call list.

First, as I hope you know, I am not a proponent of cold calling. In fact, my company's marketing plans focus on creating a steady flow of consumers who are intrigued enough with your marketing materials so that they call you -- without your ever calling them. We acknowledge that with discipline and calling consistency, you can make a living cold calling in real estate -- it's just very draining. Unfortunately, old school sales trainers keep teaching cold calling to agents. I personally believe that the consumer's image of real estate agents and the industry would improve if agents stopped all cold calling activities and focused their efforts on creating professional marketing materials.

That being said, I am still amazed at the amount of misinformation that the new Do-Not-Call regulations have created with agents. I thought I would try to put some of these misconceptions to rest. First, I am not an attorney and this article is not legal advice. Please consult with your attorney if you have any legal questions.

I would recommend that you take the time to familiarize yourself with the actual FTC rules and regulations for the national Do-Not-Call list. It is 164 pages long -- but don't panic, you don't have to read it all. In fact, if you read Section VI 109-119 dealing with established business relationships, and Section IX 136-145, I think you will have all the information you need to know in order to stay on the right side of the regulations.

As an agent for a buyer or seller, you clearly have the right to indefinitely call your past clients to follow up, provide information, educate and build or reinforce your relationship with that client, even if they are on the Do-Not-Call list. The regulations say that during the first 18 months after a transaction, you are also free to call them purely to solicit new business. After 18 months you can no longer call to solicit new business. This would probably include calling them purely to ask for referrals. (I have been teaching agents for years that calling past clients purely to try to get more business, like asking for referrals, builds long term resentment and undermines your long term relationship even though it produces short term leads.) The key then is to make calls that provide your past clients with information that they value or make purely relationship-building calls that show your clients that you truly do care about them.

The good news is that the regulations allow you to send relationship-building and informational messages by voice broadcast as well. I have found that this type of call creates a positive image for you in the client's mind and will enhance the effectiveness of your complete marketing campaign. In fact, these are the only types of past client calls we have ever taught agents to use as part of a past client marketing plan.

You can make informational calls and voice broadcast calls to your farm with messages like the following: "Hi, this is Mary Agent with XYZ Realty. I wanted to let you know that the home at13345 Oakview Lane sold for $349,000. The home was highly upgraded with a newly remodeled kitchen. I just wanted to keep you up-to-date on home values in your area."

There do seem to be some unanswered questions concerning calling FSBOs and Expireds. For Expireds, the previous listing agent has 18 months that they can call and try to re-list. It would seem (but it is a little unclear) that an agent from the same company along with the first agent could call as well. It also seems that if the listing was part of an MLS, all members of the MLS could call because they are all part of the same organization. This issue will probably end up being decided by the courts. Whether you can call FSBOs is also a little unclear but it does seem that since a FSBO is soliciting buyers for their house, you can call if you are representing a buyer that may have some interest in the home. If you are calling purely to try to sell your services as a listing agent, you probably should not call.

More good news is that by getting rid of calls that irritate consumers and undermine our professionalism as real estate agents, the new Do-Not-Call list will help improve the image of Realtors. As time goes on, I also believe that the laws against cold calling will get stronger and stronger. Now is the time to give up the cold calling scripts and start building your real estate business on a foundation of a high quality marketing campaign.

Published: September 22, 2003

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Co-founder of Hobbs/Herder Advertising and Hobbs/Herder Training, Greg Herder is recognized as the real estate industry's foremost authority on residential real estate marketing and agent productivity training. Herder is also a licensed Certified Residential Broker (CRB) and owner of MegaAgent Realty, and co-owner of JDG investments, a real estate investment company. Herder is a featured columnist on real estate marketing and training issues for Realty Times, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Savvy Executive Profiles, and, as well as a contributor to a variety of other industry publications, including Realtor® Magazine and Real Estate Business Magazine. He also authored the innovative how-to book “Satisfaction Guaranteed - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back," which ushered this unique concept into the world of real estate service. Greg has conducted over 1500 one, two or three day seminars over the past 17 years for the real estate industry and is a professional member of the National Speakers Association (NSA). He graduated cum laude from California State University with a BA in psychology and is currently working on getting his PhD in Organization Behavior.